Repository for notices under section 12 of An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit And Métis children, youth and families

On this page

• About the repository
• Purpose of the repository
• Submit information for publication in the repository
• Updates and changes to the repository
• Disclaimer
• Repository
• Key provincial and territorial contacts

About the repository

Section 12(1) of An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis children, youth and families (the Act) states that:

In the context of providing child and family services in relation to an Indigenous child, to the extent that doing so is consistent with the best interests of the child, before taking any significant measure in relation to the child, the service provider must provide notice of the measure to the child's parent and the care provider, as well as to the Indigenous governing body that acts on behalf of the Indigenous group, community or people to which the child belongs and that has informed the service provider that they are acting on behalf of that Indigenous group, community or people.

Purpose of the repository

The purpose of the repository is to house a publicly available list of contact information for Indigenous governing bodies that have informed Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) directly that they are authorized by an Indigenous group, community or people to receive notice from service providers for the purposes of section 12 of the Act.

A centralized repository can assist service providers to identify an authorized Indigenous governing body that will be receiving notice of a significant measure taken for an Indigenous child, pursuant to section 12 of the Act.

The repository is a tool to support the implementation of section 12 of the Act. The repository will not list every Indigenous governing body across Canada that has reached out to its service providers in Canada, rather it is for Indigenous governing bodies that wish to be listed. There is no requirement for an Indigenous governing body to send ISC this information.

Note that an Indigenous governing body authorized by an Indigenous group, community or people to receive notice for the purposes of section 12 of the Act does not mean that this same Indigenous governing body is authorized to establish a coordination agreement discussion.

Submit information for publication in the repository

An Indigenous group, community or people can submit the name of their Indigenous governing body authorized to receive notices by email to partenariats.partnerships@sac-isc.gc.ca.

Note that the repository does not replace the obligation for the service provider to notify the Indigenous governing body. If you wish to have your Indigenous governing body included in this repository, send the information to the above address once you have informed your service provider.

Updates and changes to the repository

Once received, new or updated information will appear in the repository as soon as feasible. ISC reserves the right to adjust the display of the repository over time as per recommendations made by Indigenous, provincial and territorial partners. If an Indigenous governing body is no longer authorized by an Indigenous group, community or people to receive notice for the purposes of section 12 of the Act, the Indigenous governing body should notify ISC and the relevant service provider as soon as possible, so that their contact information can be removed from the website.

Disclaimer

This disclaimer is in regard to the repository of Indigenous governing bodies for the purposes of section 12 of the Act:

Pursuant to section 12 of the Act, service providers must provide a notice of significant measures in relation to a child belonging to an Indigenous group, community or people to those that assert they are an Indigenous governing body as defined in the Act, and who has informed the service provider that they are acting on behalf of that Indigenous group, community or people.

Despite the existence of the repository on the Indigenous Services Canada website, in order for an Indigenous governing body to receive section 12 notice from a service provider, it will still need to inform the relevant service provider that it is acting on behalf of the Indigenous group, community or people to which the Indigenous child in question belongs. The Indigenous governing body should also provide the service provider with accurate and regularly updated contact information.

If an Indigenous governing body is no longer authorized by an Indigenous group, community or people to receive notice for the purposes of section 12 of the Act, the Indigenous governing body should notify Indigenous Services Canada and the relevant service provider as soon as possible.

The information in this repository is not intended to:

• serve as a list of which Indigenous governing bodies have provided notice under subsection 20(1) of the Act of their intention to exercise legislative authority in relation to child and family services;
• serve as a list of which Indigenous governing bodies have made a request under subsection 20(2) of the Act to enter into a coordination agreement in relation to the exercise of such legislative authority;
• express a position on whether an Indigenous group, community or people holds a right or rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982; or,
• confirm that an Indigenous governing body is authorized by an Indigenous group, community or people to act on its behalf for the purposes of section 12 of the Act.

Repository

The repository contains:

• the name of the Indigenous governing body
• the provinces and territories where the Indigenous governing body is located
• the Indigenous group, community or people that have authorized the Indigenous governing body to receive notices of any significant measure from service providers
• the date that the Indigenous governing body sent their information to ISC to be listed in the repository.
• contact information provided by the Indigenous governing body

Changes to this information should be sent to ISC.

Key provincial and territorial contacts

Below is a list of key contact information for provinces and territories. The purpose of the list is to help Indigenous governing bodies inform service providers that they are acting on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people for the purposes of section 12 of the Act.

Note that provinces and territories may choose to maintain their own repositories of Indigenous governing bodies delegated to receive notices from service providers. ISC will work with provinces and territories to ensure that these repositories align as best as possible.

The Government of Canada is not to be held responsible for inaccurate information contained in this list of key provincial and territorial contacts.